I LIKE TALKING

Throughout my radio career I've done many emcee events and appearances on behalf of the radio station.  Lots of concert intros, although not recently. Haha!  The regular on-air guys are requested more often.

Sunday mornings, a couple of us at LIFE speak in local churches, giving a radio ministry update to keep our church listeners in touch with our expansion, changes and general ministry progress. Churches give us about 10 minutes as part of their service.

More often than not, I also give an evangelical sermon message. Believe me, I never thought I'd be in that situation!  Listen, I'm not a fan of sitting in a pew listening to someone ramble on, go off on bunny trails and then tell me I'm a sinner for an hour. I'm not sure how people look forward to that. It's a bit like being in school - sitting still, quiet, taking notes, while someone talks.

That's the kind of speaker I do NOT want to be like. So, as I prepare my messages, I try to keep it fun, without watering down what I hope is a relevant, Jesus-based message.

And the funny thing is, I actually love doing it.

For the last 10 years, I would prepare a 30 minute message for churches on the LIFE tour. When it was time to return to a church, I'd prepare a new message. One message a year...? No problem.

Recently, at my home church, Pastor Jim Woolcott has challenged me to do a message a month!

I thought - "No way, I'll run out of ideas!" Or - "I don't know my Bible well enough to even qualify to be a regular speaker".  And of course I feared "people will be bored with me".

So far, so good. Just when I think I'm dry of ideas, another one comes along, and when think "Oh boy, this is gonna be rough. I'm going to bomb today!" - someone will throw me a compliment.

Some churches want a steadfast Biblical sermon with lots of applicable scripture. I've been told my style is more like an entertainer than a preacher. Hey, I'm definitely not a preacher.  I just share my own story of how God works in my life - the things I've learned and the stuff I struggle with. True stories and examples seem to move people's hearts so that seems to work well for me. I've only been called "irreverent" once. (True.)

So, here I am, thinking, "I'm not a preacher" and God seems to be using me in this capacity. I'm filling at need at my home church and - my goodness - I'm really lovin' it!